Copper is now at a 9-year after doubling since the March low. We are reposting a piece we wrote back in April recommending our customers take advantage and lock in the low commodity prices. What To Do Now? Manufacturers can take advantage of this crisis by 1) re-accessing and developing a rigorous mapping of … More Copper Price At 9-Year High
We are reposting our piece from November 1st where we speculated the long secular deflation in semiconductor prices may be over. We got lucky and looks like we picked the bottom. But first this: A shortage in production capacity compared to demand in semiconductors is expected to increase their prices in 2021. Some companies have … More Semiconductor shortage to increase prices in 2021
Just a quick note on what we believe has been one of the largest factors, along with globalization to the disinflationary forces over the past 30 years. That is the secular decline in the price of semiconductor prices. Semiconductors are the basic building block of today’s economy, as was oil during the industrial revolution. … More Is Secular Deflation Over In The Computer & Electronics Sector?
53% of COVID private sector jobs losses have been recovered (Chart 2) Total private-sector payrolls are still down 7.4% since January (Chart 3) Service-providing jobs have been hit disproportionally hard, falling 7.8% since January (Chart 3) Goods producing jobs only make up 16.7% of private-sector employment (Chart 4) The Computer & Electronic Products sector employment … More Labor Market Recovery Slowing, 53% Of COVID Job Losses Have Been Recovered
Summary Industrial Production (IP) rose for its fourth consecutive month after March and April’s sharp contraction (Chart 1) IP remains 7.6 percent below its December 2019 level (Chart 1) Durable Manufacturing output was up 0.7 percent in August, led by Computers and Aerospace products (Chart 2) Computer & Electronic Products (CEP) continue to significantly outperform … More Computer & Electronic Product Output Continues To Outperform
By Gary Evans and Jon Custer Custer Consulting Group The global pandemic is putting ever more pressure on global supply chains. Reuters reports the Trump administration is now “turbocharging” its efforts to punish China in an attempt to remove global supply chains from the Middle Kingdom through, among other things, the implementation of new tariffs. … More Pressure Builds On China Based Supply Chains
Interesting piece in Forbes today about the cross-currents caused by the COVID crisis. Here are the money quotes: certain segments are experiencing a boom, especially technology companies the electronics segment has benefited from the outbreak because of a surge in buying by both consumers and businesses in electronics equipment uncertainty about the pandemic, the … More Uncertain Outlook For The Electronics Industry
Authors: Gary Evans Jon Custer The following are the curves we are monitoring before even thinking about the path and date of the global economic recovery. At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-diseases expert and the face of the U.S. … More The Future Of Supply Chains And The Curves That Matter Most
China’s budding economic recovery provides not only provides some relief to global manufacturing but also insight and guidance into a timeframe when the rest of the world’s economy will restart. Real-time indicators show that China is re-starting its industrial complex…Clearly, the re-start is at an early stage, but things are gradually improving. — Sanford C. … More China Restarts Economy
The U.S. COVID-19 curve is going vertical as the virus spreads and new cases are finally being counted as testing is ramped up. Though political pressure is building to “open the economy,” we believe the economy will not begin to improve until serval weeks after the rate of change of these curves turns negative. Italy … More When Will The Economy Begin To Recover?